Truth’s more gray than black-white

Rush Limbaugh made
national headlines when he asserted on ESPN that Philadelphia Eagles all-star
Donovan McNabb is overrated, because "the media has been very desirous that
a black quarterback do well."

Just a week later, on another pregame show, Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive
lineman Warren Sapp called the National Football League a "slave system" because
officials had fined him for bumping a referee. "Make no mistake about it," Sapp
added, "slave master say you can't do it, don't do it. They'll make an example
out of you."

Both statements were baseless and irresponsibly inserted race into a situation
where it was irrelevant. Limbaugh's remark ignited a media firestorm, and he
was forced to resign from ESPN. Sapp's comment not only was largely ignored
by the mainstream press, but the new NFL Network went ahead with plans to hire
him as a host of one of its programs.

The widely divergent reactions highlight the double standard involved when
it comes to the public discussion of race. They also show the continued inability
of society to address this issue forthrightly. That is apparently true even
in the sports world, which has always been thought to be a trailblazer in dealing
with the subject.

Both cases should have been treated more similarly and less at the extremes
of the discipline spectrum. The networks, the public and the rest of society
should not always overreact in a knee-jerk manner to racial remarks made by
a member of the majority. And they should not totally give a pass to comparable
comments from those in the minority.

Corporate exile should not be the automatic punishment for a highly controversial
— and even highly misguided — statement about race. In fact, the
best way to rebut Limbaugh's misguided idea would have been to have him defend
it to the others on the ESPN set, not to banish him completely.

Instead, the network took the path of least resistance. But by going into crisis
management mode to protect its corporate image, ESPN lost an opportunity to
provide the public with a real case study on race relations and sports. The
decision to cut and run sends a message that ESPN doesn't think its audience
can handle such a conversation.

Most viewers would accept that there should be some kind of double standard
for members of a majority and minority. The challenge, of course, is demarcating
that fine line. But isn't wrong to not even try?

For example, how difficult is it to figure out what side of the line Sapp's
comments were on? So, why aren't the media holding Sapp, who by the way earns
$6 million a year in that "slave system," as accountable as they are Limbaugh?
Throwing around loaded racial words so recklessly can only compromise efforts
to address real race relations problems in the country.

Last year, former-player-turned-television-commentator Charles Barkley charged
that organizers of the Masters golf tournament had lengthened the fairways of
its Augusta course in an attempt to keep an African-American, Tiger Woods, from
winning another title.

It was an unsubstantiated and inflammatory statement that should have provoked
a public outcry and at the least a strong condemnation from Barkley's employers
at TNT. Neither occurred. It was dismissed as just "outspoken Charles Barkley
being Charles Barkley." But that's as silly as ignoring Limbaugh's contention
about McNabb as just "Rush being Rush."

The sports world has often been a leader in helping society address race relations.
And it therefore is missing an important opportunity by continuing to take a
pass in dealing consistently and clearly with irresponsible comments made by
some of its most high-profile members.

John D. Solomon, a New York-based journalist, writes frequently about sports
and society.